Oklahoma City hits five homers, climbs back into first place

Tuesday’s trip around the Dodgers affiliates includes a pair of lopsided games. One went the way of the blue and the other did not.

Player of the day

In a game full of offense, starter Gavin Stone deserves some credit on the mound. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits and a walk while striking out seven in his six innings of work. Stone picked up his first win with OKC, meaning he has now won at all three levels he’s played at and owns a 8-6 record to go with a combined 1.56 ERA in 25 games (24 starts).

Triple-A Oklahoma City

The Dodgers brought the lumber Tuesday to crush the El Paso Chihuahuas (Padres) 16-1 in the opener of a crucial series. The win moves Oklahoma City back into first place in a tie with El Paso, with five games remaining in the series and eight overall on the year.

Every hitter in the OKC lineup had at least one hit while six different hitters had at least two during the offensive outburst. The bulk of the scoring came in the middle innings when the Dodgers put up five in the fourth and seven in the fifth.

The team walloped five homers along the way that included long balls from James Outman, Ryan Noda, Jake Amaya, Tomás Telis and Michael Busch.

Both Outman and Noda each reached base four times on the night, walking twice to go along with their home runs and another extra-base hit. Outman hit a two-run homer in the third inning to get the Dodgers on the board first and later tripled. Noda smashed a two-run job in the fourth and would later double.

Already up 4-0 after Noda’s blast, Amaya would later hit a three-run homer to push the Dodgers lead to 7-0 heading to the bottom of the fourth. Stone allowed a solo homer to E Paso before handing it back to his offense to double their output with seven more runs in the fifth.

The Dodgers sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth and the scoring was capped off by a three-run shot for Telis to bury the Chihuahuas. Busch hit his 20th with Oklahoma City in the seventh, giving him 31 on the season.

Edwin Ríos reached base four times with a two-run double, two walks and a hit by pitch. He scored a game-high three runs, marking his second three-run game in the last four games overall.

Rehabbing relievers Victor González and Yency Almonte each tossed a scoreless inning. González allowed two hits in the seventh inning, with no walks or strikeouts. Almonte appeared in his first game since Aug. 3 with the Los Angeles Dodgers and faced the minimum in the eighth inning with one strikeout.

Double-A Tulsa

Tulsa opened their best-of-three series wit the Wichita Wind Surge (Twins) by leaving the bats at home. Wichita’s offense was relentless and scored five runs in multiple innings as the Drillers were obliterated 17-1.

Maybe Tulsa will find their bats when they return home for what they hope will be two games to finish the series. They’ll have to win Game 2 on Thursday if they hope to stave off elimination.

It didn’t matter who was on the mound for the Drillers Tuesday, Wichita scored five in the second, four in the fifth and five more in the seventh. Already down 8-0 in the fifth, Justin Yurchak provided the only run for the Drillers with an RBI-single to bring Leonel Valera home.

Transactions

Triple-A: The Dodgers sent relievers Victor González and Yency Almonte on rehab assignments while activating starter Andre Jackson. Ryan Pepiot was recalled to the major leagues.

Tuesday Scores

• Oklahoma City 16, El Paso 1
• Wichita 17, Tulsa 1

Tuesday schedule

• 11:05 a.m.: Oklahoma City (Bobby Miller) at El Paso (Reiss Knehr)